The life of TVs and domestic appliances could be extended by 10 years following the introduction of legislation requiring manufacturers to provide spare parts.
The rules are being introduced to combat planned obsolescence built into appliances that shorten a product’s lifespan and helps to generate around 1.5 million tonnes of electrical waste every year.
From this Summer, manufacturers will be obliged to make spare parts for products available so that electrical appliances can be repaired by consumers. According to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), this could extend the lifespan of products by up to 10 years, which is expected to save carbon emissions as well as waste.
BEIS added that the changes will also set higher energy-efficiency standards for electrical products which will save consumers an average of £75 a year on energy bills.
“Our plans to tighten product standards will ensure more of our electrical goods can be fixed rather than thrown on the scrap heap, putting more money back in the pockets of consumers whilst protecting the environment,” said business and energy secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng. “Going forward, our upcoming energy efficiency framework will push electrical products to use even less energy and material resources, saving people money on their bills and reducing carbon emissions as we work to reach net zero by 2050.”
Commenting on the legislation, Cranfield University’s director of manufacturing, Professor Mark Jolly said: “This law is a welcome step in creating a circular and more sustainable economy. Far too many products, particularly electrical ones, are simply discarded at what is assumed to be the end of their use life.
“Our own research into remanufactured laptops shows just how effective repairs can be with remanufactured models retaining around 95 per cent of their original processing power. If businesses and consumers embraced a switch from new to remanufactured computers that would make a huge difference to the amount of electrical waste generated and also reduce the need for the mining of metals.
“While the announcement of the ‘right to repair’ law is welcome we also need to see greater education of both the public and businesses that repaired and remanufactured doesn’t always mean a drop in quality or performance.”
“Additive manufacturing can play a huge role here,” added Mark Dickin, additive manufacturing & moulding engineering manager at Ricoh 3D. “Some parts will be frequently required and it makes sense for manufacturers to hold these in physical form, but 3D printing means the parts which are less in demand can be held digitally as CAD data.”
I am sure that the manufacturers will be able to provide the spare parts but at what cost? The spares may be so costly that a simple repair is not cost effective, so buying a new one may be the cheaper option. Good idea but may not achieve what it was set out to do.
Long overdue! It does also need manufacturers to provide where relevant appropriate diagnostic information, in particular relating to electrical signals, and dismantling reassembly instructions. While many people will lack the skills, tools, and inclination to do it themselves there are plenty of others who are more than capable. Manufacturers should not tie things up through dealer chains as they do at present. Products need to be designed for repair and maintenance in the first place. The lack of understanding of what is involved in repairing something ie the functionality has been eroded over the last few decades, especially in the automotive industry, where even things like roadside changing of a bulb demands dismantling of numerous items, and in some instances also necessary for daily pre-use checks! Standardisation of sub assemblies and components coupled with opening up the aftermarket for compatible parts are additional benefits facilitating increased volumes of scale. The ability to improve a device with modernised sub assemblies is also something that adds to the environmental gains.
Great news, but I hope manufacturers do not lower quality control and gains in reliability. All spares should be made affordable for this to work or the easy option of the disposable society will continue.
I seem to remember this is/was a EU directive put out a couple of years ago. If our manufacturers want to sell goods in the EU then they must comply. Not really down to Kwasi K.
Hopefully will make the product more reliable for longer, but the cost of the part, plus postage, plus vat and fitting if you can not DIY makes a lot of appliances uneconomical to repair, especially with the new item having a guarantee of in some cases up to 5 years.
If a person is qualified and willing to do the repair themselves then that should be their choice. Some suppliers of domestic electrical goods are using the excuse that they won’t supply spare parts for health and safety reasons, in that they can’t accept any liabilities involved. That to me is totally illogical as that argument could shut down the whole DIY industry. It is a nonsense when you include postage and packing to sometimes having to pay nearly as much as the original purchase price to get a simple repair done. Many people are forced to dispose of domestic goods when a safe inexpensive repair DIY repair may be possible. Of course health and safety advice should be sought at the point of purchase but this applies to all involved in the service industry.